Battleground
Battlegrounds are instanced areas used for player versus player combat. Each classic battleground (Warsong Gulch, Arathi Basin and Alterac Valley) has two red instance entrance portals: one for the Alliance, and one for the Horde. Crossing these portals was originally one of the ways to enter the queue for their respective battlegrounds. Now, to enter the queue for any battleground, the player must seek out a Battlemaster, which can be found at the portal or in any capital city, or do so through the Player vs. Player tab. Once inside the instance, the two teams will engage in large-scale PvP, with various objectives determining the winner. Players will earn honor points making PvP rewards available. If a character goes AFK, he/she will leave the battleground and gain the Deserter debuff. This prevents entry to another battleground for a 15 minute duration. You can report an inactive player by right clicking the player's portrait and selecting "Report AFK". When enough reports are registered, a 60 second debuff will begin to count down. Once the timer is up a new debuff will appear that will prevent the player from gaining any honor or marks while it is on. This debuff can be negated as soon as the player engages in PvP combat. This system is often abused, since a player can have good reasons for not participating in PVP, for example when he is defending. The two initial Battleground areas, Alterac Valley and Warsong Gulch, went live June 7th, 2005. Arathi Basin was added to the list in Patch 1.7 on September 13th, 2005. A fourth battleground, named Eye of the Storm, was released with the Burning Crusade. A fifth battleground, the Strand of the Ancients, was added in Wrath of the Lich King. The sixth battleground, the Isle of Conquest, was added in Patch 3.2 on August 4th, 2009. Existing battlegrounds Warsong Gulch ;Levels: ;Combatants: 10 per faction Arathi Basin ;Levels: ;Combatants: 15 per faction Alterac Valley ;Levels: ;Combatants: 40 per faction Eye of the Storm Requires World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. ;Levels: ;Combatants: 15 per faction Strand of the Ancients Requires World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King ;Levels: ;Combatants: 15 per faction Isle of Conquest Requires World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King ;Levels: ;Combatants: 40 per faction Battle for Gilneas Requires World of Warcraft: Cataclysm ;Levels: ;Combatants: 10 per faction Twin Peaks Requires World of Warcraft: Cataclysm ;Levels: ;Combatants: 10 per faction In Wrath of the Lich King * "Call to Arms" battlegrounds added in Patch 3.3.3 for battlegrounds holiday. In Mists of Pandaria * Several new battlegrounds. * Ability to "blacklist" some battlegrounds from adding you to their queue. |date=29-May-2012 8:00PM}} * Call to Arms battleground available everyday. Nethaera|date=5-Jun-2012 9:00 AM PDT|quote2= Is the way we queue for Battlegrounds changing at all? Tom Chilton - Yes, we’re adding a way for players to down-vote two Battlegrounds that they don’t want to see show up when queuing for random Battlegrounds. The exception to this is if it’s the Battleground featured with Call to Arms. You won’t be able to down-vote those when they happen, but this should make it so that it’s less likely you’ll be taking part in a Battleground that you don’t particularly enjoy. It should also help make it more likely that when a particular Battleground comes up on the Call to Arms, you may be able to enjoy it more. We’re also changing the way Call to Arms works so that there will always be a Call to Arms Battleground available. This will allow us to cycle through a larger amount of Battlegrounds on a regular basis. }} Canceled Battlegrounds Azshara Crater Originally slated to be an Alterac Valley style instance, this battleground was far enough along in development that there were even Horde and Alliance entrances in Azshara. It never saw release, however, and with the zone overhaul in Cataclysm removing the physical location in which it would have existed, its fate seems to have been sealed. Azshara Crater in Mists of Pandaria At BlizzCon 2011, Blizzard revealed that they may be working on adding it into World of Warcraft's fourth expansion pack. Gurubashi Catacombs A "deathmatch" style battleground, it was scrapped early in development but the concept eventually turned into Arena PvP. Notes * ... XP in Battlegrounds *Blizzard stated that XP for playing in the battlegrounds has been added in Patch 3.2. * and are the NPCs that can eliminate your experience gaining for a fee should you decide you want to stay a certain level in the battlegrounds. Note that turning off xp will do so for all sources of experience, including quests. *In Patch 3.1.3, Alterac Valley (AV) you can earn XP by killing mobs, however the XP gain is very low if a lot of your faction players are within range. *By glitch or by design, XP awards were increased to move twinks to next bracket quickly, but Call to Honor weekend play still acts as a multiplier of this increased amount, allowing the player to add one level in as little as three wins. Players that know this can use PvP for leveling. Example: Level 42 to level 47 was done on a Sunday in about 5 hours. Incredible XP! :) Patch changes * * * * * * * References See also * Battlegrounds holiday * Rated battlegrounds * Battlegroups * Alliance battleground strategies * Horde battleground strategies * Advanced Battlegrounds Strategy (silly) * People in the Battlegrounds (silly) External links ;Official : ;Info Feb 29th 2012 at 4:00PM}} Feb 23rd 2012 at 3:00PM}} ; News May 29th 2012 at 8:00PM}} May 13th 2012 at 1:00PM}} ;News de:Schlachtfeld fr:Honneur et champ de bataille Category:Battlegrounds Category:Game terms